Storyline

In New York, the money-driven dealer Dean Corso is a rare-books expert and partner of Bernie, who owns a bookstore. He is contacted by the renowned collector of books about the devil Boris Balkan, who has just acquired the rare The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows from the collector Andrew Telfer, to verify whether his book is authentic or a forgery. Balkan explains that the book was written by the writer Aristide Torchia, in 1666, with Lucifer and he was burned at the stake with his entire work. There are only three exemplars of The Nine Gates and in accordance with the legend, its nine engravings form a riddle to conjure the devil. The skeptical Corso accepts the assignment and has to flight to Sintra, Portugal, and Paris, France, to contact the owners Victor Fargas and Baroness Kessler and find the genuine exemplar for Balkan. Meanwhile, he asks Bernie to hide the rare book. Before traveling to Europe, the widow Liana Telfer wants to retrieve the book and has sex with Corso, ... Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

Did You Know?

Trivia

The two booksellers Corso encounters in Toledo are actually the same actor, José López Rodero. Writer/director/producer Roman Polanski used a motion capture rig to use the same actor twice. The same man appears again later, playing two workmen cleaning out the bookstore. Rodero was an assistant director and production manager, not a professional actor. He was hesitant to accept these multiple parts. See more »

Goofs

As Corso asks the cab driver to wait while he goes to the bookstore, we see a motorcycle drive down Bleeker street. The license plate on the motorcycle are French, but Corso is in New York. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Dean Corso:
It's an impressive collection. You have some very rare editions here. Are you sure you want to sell them all?
Old Man's Son:
They're of no use to father. Not anymore. Not since he's been this way. His library was his whole world. Now it's just a painful memory.
See more »

User Reviews

The Ninth Gate is an expertly paced thriller that relies more on intrigue and subtlety than it does on gross out scenes. Johnny Depp plays a "book detective" who must authenticate a Satanic text that is reputed to conjure the devil. Early scenes feature a battle of sarcastic insults between Depp and Frank Langella's character, a multimillionare who hires Depp to authenticate the book. As Depp traverses Europe to acquire information, he is assisted by Emanuelle Seigner, who is coy when Depp interrogates her on her role in Depp's quest. Seigner's help is needed, as other forces jostle for possession of the book. The ending is not particularly explosive as a film involving the Devil would suggest, but there is enough intrigue and plot twisting to make The Ninth Gate an enjoyable film.

56 of 85 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?